


Not Your World

by KnightXavier, ThaliaofCarim



Category: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Genre: Everything will be explained in the story, Gen, Modern Girl in Tamriel, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sheogorath sees the MC as an adopted sibling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:09:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29425794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KnightXavier/pseuds/KnightXavier, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThaliaofCarim/pseuds/ThaliaofCarim
Summary: What happens when a modern girl from Earth (or Gaia as she prefers to call her beloved world) somehow ends up on Nirn in Tamriel where she ends up meeting the Champion of Cyrodiil roughly some time before he leaves and becomes Daedric Prince of Madness? A story full of unique twists and turns. But there's something different about this modern girl: She is gifted with actual magic from none other then Gaia herself. Among those powers? The ability to become a large "direwolf" and a black and red fiery unicorn. Not only that, she is also "mate-Bonded" to A Daedra and has a strange ash colored wolf intent on claiming her for himself.A modern girl from Earth, A Daedric Prince of Madness who sees her as as little sister, and a load of shenanigans. What could go wrong?
Relationships: Original Daedra/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place after the Champion leaves for the Shivering Isles DLC in the game, but there will be conversations between the Champion/Sheogorath and Ashefa that will piece together how these two came to meet and care for each other as "adopted" siblings. Please remember that this IS a fanfiction and is a work that my friend (KnightXavier) and I are working on together. This is just for fun and we really hope you enjoy what happens within this story.
> 
> How to pronounce the names:  
> Ashefa: Ash*fae  
> Kicrath: Ki*crath (Khey*Crath)  
> Gavrin: Gav*rin

A young woman placed a book gently down upon the table, a book she had had for several months, it was a book that had been gifted to her by a dear friend she had known for a while. After placing the book down, the woman turned her gaze towards the hearth and frowned. It had been months since she had last seen her dear friend, well at least that’s what she was aware of. Ever since his mysterious disappearance, a disappearance that she was well aware of despite the façade she had placed up of not knowing anything of this world at all, she had started feeling alone and alienated once more. Many of the people had taken to blaming her for her friend’s disappearance and thus as a result, she had taken to staying within her home, a place given to her by her friend which was well guarded by those who knew and understood that the woman was not the reason her friend had disappeared. Closing her eyes, the woman decided that it would do her no good to think of the events that had just recently transpired, she would likely only go insane from the thoughts she would have about it. Inhaling a deep breath, the woman sighed not a moment later, before opening her eyes. Deciding that it was time to get some fresh air, the woman went to the door leading outside and soon left the building before making her way towards the gates of the city and left to head away from the city. Once she was far enough away from the city, the woman closed her eyes and focused before suddenly feeling a warmth wrap around her as her “magic” came forth. Eventually, the warmth of the magic vanished and the woman opened her eyes and was pleased to see that her human form had given way to an canine like one, and the tail she now had wagged once before she took off in this new form. While many would have assumed her to be a werebeast due to her “unnatural” size, in truth she was not a werebeast at all, she was, in fact, a shapeshifter who just preferred the form of a large canine like animal that many would identify as a wolf. 

As the woman turned wolf raced around, it didn’t take long before she found herself on the other side of the place she had come to learn was called Cyrodiil. Where she was headed, she could not say, she was allowing her paws to carry her where they would before she finally stopped and sat down, her tail wrapping around to rest at the side of her left back leg as her gaze turned skyward to watch the stars pass by overhead as her thoughts turned towards many wonders. One of those thoughts was how badly her friend would be upset with her if he discovered the truth about her. She had known that he had his suspicions about her origins, the clothing she had been wearing the day they had first met would have told him that she was not from this place at all, but he had surprisingly never questioned her about her origins.  _ But I have a haunting feeling he would be greatly upset with me if he found out that I was already aware of the events leading up to his disappearance...  _ Her ears folded back as she let that thought roll through her mind before her ears flicked forward as she heard something coming her way.  _ What was that? _ She stood back up to her full height and tilted her head as her ears swiveled trying to pick up on exactly which direction she had heard the sound coming from. She heard the noise again and this time her head moved to look in the direction the sound had originated and focused upon that particular direction.  _ What is… _ Suddenly something flew by her just barely missing her by mere inches and now her whole body whipped around as she bared her fangs and began to snarl before she leapt out of the way as another thing came flying at her. Letting out more snarls with her hackles rising, the woman turned wolf watched the area around her carefully. Folding her ears back she waited for several moments but a sudden spike of pain within her shoulder had her yelping out as something lodged itself in her shoulder. Snarling as she turned towards the thing, she recognized what looked to be a silver arrow within her shoulder and attempted to reach for it only to fail at pulling it out and broke it instead. 

“ **_NOW! WHILE THE BEAST IS DISTRACTED!_ ** ” 

An unfamiliar voice rang out causing the wolf to turn her gaze towards the owner to see a man wielding a silvery blade. Snarling the wolf prepared to lunge towards him but yelped again as she felt another arrow lodge itself within her, this time near her hind leg. Swiftly turning to break what she could of it off, she spotted several other people within the shadows and snarled as she broke the arrow. Turning back towards the person who had called out, she yelped once more as she felt a sharp pain upon her face as his blade came down and cut over her left eye, leaving a rather nasty wound that would take time to heal. Managing to pull away, the wolf snarled before lunging towards the man and she managed to return the favor by letting her fangs rip into the right side of his face before racing away, with arrows and bolts flying past her as she ran while hearing several shouts and cries to “kill the unholy beast” following in her wake. Running in whatever direction her legs would carry her, the wolf was nearly blind due to the fact that her left eye was closed to try and keep blood out of it. As she ran, she could hear the shouts getting further and further away but soon tripped and yelped as she began rolling, feeling the remaining parts of the broken arrows lodging themselves deeper into her with each hit she took upon the ground. Eventually, she came to a stop and found herself in loads more pain as she could clearly feel the pain of each part of her body that had taken the hits of her wild rolling. As she went to stand, the call of “FIRE” sounded and she looked up in time to see several arrows headed her way and barely, just  _ barely _ , managed to get up and avoid most of the arrows with a few of the luckier ones managing to lodge themselves in her body, but despite the arrows, the wolf continued to run, in what direction she was still unsure of until she spotted a nearby Daedric Shrine but instead of heading towards it (She could very easily recognize which shrine this was), she raced past it and was just barely out of sight of said shrine when she felt something knock her off course and into a nearby tree causing a much louder cry of pain to escape her. 

Whimpering as the pain that had exploded through her increased from where she had impacted with the tree, she tried to stand only to feel someone kick her back down and immediately step upon her, the person using plenty of their weight to keep her held down without crushing her bones. Turning her head to look at the one who held her down she was (but also wasn’t) shocked to see a werewolf hunter being the one to hold her down. “Thought you could get away with your little tricks didn’t you, “Lady” Ashefa? Thought that your association with the Hero of Kvatch would keep you safe from us? Well the Hero isn’t here anymore now is he?” The wolf, revealed to be named Ashefa, gave off a weak growl and the man gave a dark chuckle. “Normally, I would make death quick for one such as you, but I’m rather enjoying seeing you lying there beneath me. So much so, in fact, that I think I’ll ensure that you die rather slowly, and painfully.” Ashefa let out another weak growl but yelped as the man’s blade found a spot on her side and cut deeply. “I’m going to have a lot of fun with you.” He smirked as he made another deep cut on her face, this time causing the cut already there to become deeper. “It’s too bad no one will come to save you,  **_WOLF_ ** _. _ ” The man pulled his blade away from her face and this time lowered it to rest just on her throat. “I hope you’ve made peace with your chosen deity, for you will find no mercy here anymore.” with that the man raised his blade and prepared to thrust it down upon Ashefa who closed her only open eye as she waited for a blow that never came, causing her to reopen her only good eye and look in the direction of where she expected the blow to come from. Unfortunately for her, her sight, due to her blood loss, was too blurry for her to really make out anything and soon she laid her head back down and closed her eyes, passing out and missing whatever would happen to the man who had been attempting to kill her. But, as she closed her eyes, and just before darkness claimed her, she swore she could hear a familiar, yet angry, voice speaking.


	2. One

" _ Lady Ashefa should be awakening soon, sir. But you must give her time. That strange man who brought her to us said that she was badly injured and he was right. Her injuries were extensive but nothing we couldn't handle. _ " Ashefa heard someone, likely a woman, telling someone else in another room as she slowly awoke (and in pain), yet she could not hear a response from whomever they were speaking to, as if the person's voice was muffled by something. " _ No, I'm afraid not. The strange man, he didn't stay for too long, something about being needed back in his home, but he did radiate an aura of great power. One that could rival a Daedric Prince."  _ A moment of silence followed before the voice spoke up again.  _ "I do not believe so. He did say he found her near the Shrine of the Mad God though. Said that a group of werewolf hunters mistook her for a werewolf looking for a place to transform while she was out for a stroll at night."  _ More silence, but if the voice gave any response, Ashefa did not hear it as she soon passed back out as her body did not recognize that it was now fully healed.

***

Some days later, Ashefa finally found herself back at her home and sighed as she re-entered the building. Even though the mages had done everything they could, the scars she bore from her encounter with the werewolf hunters would remain upon her body and face forever. Looking around her home, Ashefa frowned before walking towards her little office with her thoughts swirling. Despite her many questions, no one could tell her what had happened to the werewolf hunters. It was as if they had just vanished into thin air, leaving nothing but their weapons behind. As for who had returned her to civilization, all the healers could tell her was that it was an older gentleman with an air of great power, one to rival the Daedric Prince of Madness himself, and Ashefa could only shake her head. “Why would he want anything to do with me… especially after the way we parted before he disappeared through that door?” As she walked into her office, she stopped dead in her tracks upon spotting two things that she had known for a fact that she had  **_NOT_ ** had on her desk before she had left. “What in the world?” Approaching her desk, Ashefa recognized at least one of the items as being an ever familiar sweet treat known as a sweetroll, and from the looks of it, the sweetroll itself was actually quite fresh (and placed upon one of her own small plates that she usually used for placing her tea cups upon) and still warm. “You always did know how to surprise me, you ass.” She smiled upon seeing the sweetroll, before turning to the other item, which was somewhat familiar to her as it was a ring, yet she had never seen one of its like before. Reaching out she carefully picked it up to examine it closely. It took her some time but soon she remembered that this ring  **_DID_ ** belong to her friend (it was his family ring if her memory served correctly), and she frowned as she held it in her palm, before closing her hand around it. “Why would you give this to me?” She wondered more to herself than anyone else. For her it was curious to see it having been just lying there on her desk as this ring was something she was sure he would not give up lightly. Even before their argument, Ashefa could say that she knew for a fact that her friend would rarely, if ever, take the ring off so for her to see it just lying there on her desk gave her two distinct thoughts. One was that this was his way of trying to apologize for allowing his temper to get the better of him during their argument (despite the fact that she knew the argument was her fault to begin with). The other thought was that it was his way of telling her that he  **_HAD_ ** been the one to save her, though for her that would bring up a whole new line of questions that she would likely never receive the answers for. Closing her eyes for a moment, she sighed before opening her eyes once more as she soon walked over to a small box and, after unlocking the box, she pulled out her own (future) family heirloom (a necklace that had been bought for her by her father) and unhooking it from itself, she carefully slipped the ring onto the necklace, before taking the necklace and putting it on. “Best I keep both of these close by. My necklace in memory of my father and the Champion’s family ring, in case I see him again...if ever.” She told herself as she turned away from the box (after making sure to lock it once more) to look back at her desk with a smile crossing her face at the sight of the sweetroll. “If it weren’t for the fact that whatever the mages gave me took away any appetite I had, I’d probably enjoy that treat, my friend.” She shook her head before heading towards her kitchen with the thought of making some of her “infamous lavender-honey tea” as her friend had jokingly called it. She remembered how he had often said that that was the best way for him to find her as he had claimed that the smell of lavender and honey seemed to follow her wherever she went as if her drinking it so much and so often had caused it to be her scent. “Wouldn’t surprise me at all,” She chuckled quietly to herself as she entered her kitchen and slowly began to gather the ingredients for her tea. 

As she heated up the water for her tea, she felt a yawn overcome her and shook her head. “Guess I’m not as fully recovered as I or the mages thought. I’ll drink my tea, relax for a little bit on the balcony until it's just a little after sunset, then head to bed.” Before she became too busy, she allowed her thoughts to wander for a moment and frowned. “Thinking of home will do me no good… Especially when I cannot even remember how I came to be here…” A small sensation of sorrow overcame her with that thought. The lack of memories she had when it came to how she had come to Nirn was worrisome in and of itself, but soon she looked towards a nearby window and smiled. “I don’t know if all the gods were listening, but they must have some sense of humor, I did say I wanted a fresh start, so I guess I better get onto that.” Then she really frowned. “Which makes me wonder, how am I going to make enough coin to keep this place without him here to guide me…” Suddenly a knock on the door sounded and she nearly yelped as she was driven out of her thoughts. “Now who could that be?” Ashefa wondered as she made her way towards the door and opened it to find a familiar Imperial man standing there, looking (for the most part) almost relieved to see her. 

“Ashefa! Thank the divines you’re alright! When I heard what happened I was worried for you.”

Ashefa studied the man for a moment, “Gavrin? What are you doing here?” She inquired carefully while keeping her voice as neutral as possible. 

“I came to check up on you, I heard what happened, are you sure you are alright?” He inquired swiftly as she frowned.

“I’m fine, I’ll only have scars but for the most part I’m fully healed. But please come in,” She tried to invite him into her home. “I’m making some tea if you would like some.” She told him as he entered before she closed the door behind him. 

“Is it your wonderful lavender and honey tea?” 

“Why would I make any other?” Ashefa smiled gently. It was apparent to her that anyone who ever tried her tea fell immediately in love with it. From the Champion to any guards that needed something warm to drink on a chilly night, everyone always commented on how her tea was probably some of the best they had ever had. 

“That is very true,” Gavrin smiled now. “I still say you should start selling it, why not open a little shop here in Anvil and sell your tea? You’d make a fortune!”

“Gavrin, you know that’s not my way. Everyone should be able to enjoy some tea every now and then without the worry of having to pay for it. From the beggars to kings and the emperors and empresses, no one should have to go without something to drink that’s good for them.” Ashefa spoke as she headed towards the kitchen to continue preparing the items for the tea. 

“Still a charitable soul as always, Ashefa,” Gavrin continued to smile before he noted that she was wearing her old necklace, but upon the necklace he noted a new item. The ever familiar ring of the champion. Gavrin wanted to ask about it, but for the moment decided against asking as he did not wish to upset her so soon after she returned home. “I will ask though: have you thought about a way to make coin? I know you were worrying about that after the Champion disappeared…” He trailed off for a moment as Ashefa sighed softly.

“I’ve been trying to come up with some way, but the thoughts keep eluding me and I worry even more because of it.” Ashefa told him as she finished with preparing the ingredients and soon picked out two tea cups for them. 

“If I remember correctly, the last time we spoke, you mentioned something about having cared for all kinds of plants before losing part of your memory. Maybe you could grow some plants for alchemy and the like? Maybe even have a steady supply of lavender for your teas? If you need bees for beehives for honey, I could help out with that as well.” 

“I wouldn’t ask you too, and even if I did sell plants for alchemy, wouldn’t that be putting dear Norbert in danger of running out of business? I wouldn’t want to interfere with his work after all.” Ashefa commented. 

“I don’t think he would mind at all! Why don’t you speak with him about it if you're so worried? I’m sure he’d be more than happy to see you set up shop in Anvil, might want to talk to the Countess too while you're at it. She might be willing to help you set up everything you’d need to start selling things!” Gavrin smiled warmly towards Ashefa as he watched her prepare the tea by pouring the dried tea leaves and dried lavender into the now boiling water. “She has taken notice of how reclusive you’ve become since the disappearance of the Champion and I believe she’s become greatly worried about you. She’s already threatened several people who’ve come from other parts of Cyrodiil to try and blame you for the champion’s disappearance. In fact, no one in Anvil has taken kindly to such blasphemous things that have been said about you.”

Ashefa walked over to the table and motioned for him to sit, “Dare I ask?” She wondered as Gavin sighed. 

“Many people have pegged you as being “The Champion’s whore”.” Ashefa froze at that one as a shocked yet angry look flashed upon her face. “That’s not all, many even claim that it’s because of you that we have lost a good man and that it's your fault he’s more than likely dead.” 

Ashefa set the teapot she was using down and turned away for a moment to attempt to conceal the rage she felt rolling through her and to control herself so as not to cause the building to drop in temperature. It was one thing for her to lose her temper when the Champion had been around, he had told her that it was natural and that he had ways to counter the sudden drop when her rage would make itself known, but Gavrin was just a normal nobleman and had no way to counter the drop in temperature. “That latter part I could understand, I feel that it is my fault and the fact that he and I had an argument before he…” Ashefa closed her eyes and shook her head before turning back around. “But calling me a whore!  **_THAT_ ** alone is inexcusable!” Ashefa felt her body heat up for a moment as rage burned through her, though for the most part she managed to keep that contained.

“I know, the Countess herself said that if any of the Anvil guard reported hearing people slander you like that again, or if she or anyone who lived here heard that and reported it, she would have them hunted down like pigs.”

“I’d believe it too.” Ashefa sighed as she finally sat down. “But let us move away from such talk, I think the mages would be furious if they have to see me again so soon and I, for one, would not want to be on the receiving end of their wrath.” 

“Agreed,” Gavrin nodded as they soon moved onto other topics of discussion. After some time had passed, Gavrin and Ashefa stood at the door and he turned to her. “Ashefa? I do have one final question before I leave.”

“I might have the answer you seek, depending on the question.” Ashefa responded as she waited for him to ask his question.”

“I couldn’t help but notice that upon your necklace, you happen to be wearing the champion’s favorite ring, were you and he ever..?”

It took Ashefa a moment to realize what Gavrin was asking and she nearly exploded with rage. “ **_WHAT?!_ ** No! Never! The Champion and I were close friends! He was never interested in me as he preferred the company of men!” She told Gavrin who at least had the decency to look shocked at that moment.

“But you and he spent so much time together…”

“We were friends, Gavrin! He was more like family to me then anything! Just as you are nothing more than a friend to me!” Ashefa barely managed to keep herself together. 

“So does that mean I have a chance to-!’

“ **_NO!_ ** Gavrin, you are my friend. That’s all you will ever be to me, a good friend. I have no interest in finding a life-mate right now nor do I have a desire to be courted in any form!” Ashefa told him swiftly, hoping to get the point across. Yet she had a bad feeling that he would not get a clue and that soon she would have to deal with an over-obsessive man. “Look Gavrin, It’s getting late, you should probably head home. Don’t worry about checking on me for the foreseeable future. I’ll be quite busy in the coming days.” She didn’t give him any possibility to speak before all but kicking him out of the building and closing the door behind him. After she locked the door, she took a moment to lean against it and listened to his footsteps as he walked away. “Gods save my soul now while they can…” Ashefa closed her eyes, “I have a feeling that I’m about to experience the one thing no one should ever have to. I just pray that it doesn’t lead to darkness falling upon this world once more..” She sighed before opening her eyes and deciding to head to bed with a hand reaching up to touch the Champion's family ring. “Without you, my dear friend...I have a feeling this is going to be an extremely long life I will be living…” 

***

Many years later would find Ashefa sitting somewhere outside of her shop and, despite the shop itself having to sit outside of Anvil itself, she found herself surprisingly glad that it was up and running. The spot that she had chosen had been unclaimed and had the perfect soil for growing plants (and a few crops as was needed if she needed). Looking around her as she lifted her gaze from the book she had been reading, she couldn’t help the feeling of calmness and joy that suddenly ran through her as she studied the plants all around her. Turning her gaze towards the nearby pond, she was glad she had found this plot of land, near where she sat was (surprisingly) a beautiful natural pond where she had planted the cutting of the willow tree she had taken from her mother’s own willow tree (thus making the willow Ashefa sat under the “daughter” of the original willow), and it had grown swiftly and provided the shade in which she sat reading now. Ashefa smiled to herself before returning to reading as the fleeting thought of how the people of Anvil called the willow tree she sat under now “Ashefa’s Willow” just due to how often she could be found sitting under it. The Willow itself was a particularly favored breed of willow by Ashefa’s own family and was often called a “Weeping Willow” where she had come from, but for now she did not mind that the people of Nirn called her willow “Ashefa’s Willow”, it was more or less entertaining for her to hear it be called that. Oh she was sure that, in time, cuttings from her own willow would be taken and grown across the lands and those willows would be the children of her willow tree now and thus would far outlast her life and whatever bloodlines would arise from her if any.

As Ashefa continued to read, a small breeze picked up and she lifted her gaze once more and closed her eyes with a small smile upon her face as the sound of the willow branches moving in the wind echoed around her. As the breeze died down, Ashefa reopened her eyes, still smiling before returning to reading once more. She still had no true connection to Nirn, but something told her that the world itself seemed almost grateful to have her there. It had, of course, taken her some time to settle down into some form of routine similar to what she had done back in her world, but she had finally settled down and was back into an “old” routine of caring for plants (and animals) which helped her to calm both her soul and her mind. It was this routine that had allowed her to keep her shop open as many people came from all over Cyrodiil to collect ingredients from her shop as they were a “better quality than anywhere else” and Ashefa chuckled to herself as she decided to close her book with a place marker to mark where she was in the book.  _ Many don’t realize what my secret is and the few who have work at the shop now despite me telling them they don’t need to.  _ And that was the truth, Ashefa’s secret to caring for the plants she tended to was the simple fact of something she had learned long ago and that to take only what was needed and return the rest to the land, she would even use things like bonemeal, egg shells, coffee beans grounded into dust, and many other types of items to help return the nutrients that the currently growing plants used back into the soil. A thing that Ashefa had noticed that not a lot of people did, even here on Nirn.

Suddenly Ashefa was shaken from her thoughts as the familiar sound of children giggling echoed over to her and she turned to see three young children over on the other side of the pond playing and couldn’t help the smile that crossed her face once more. From what she could see the children all looked nearly alike which told her that they were siblings, two brothers and a sister and she watched them carefully, before turning away with a sorrowful expression. As far as she knew, she would never be able to have children of her own and to even think of trying for any would end in failure as her body would reject the future child every time. And now Ashefa wondered if one of her old friend’s theories was possibly correct but even she doubted the thought he had had as the thought itself was nearly impossible to believe. Yet as she closed her eyes, the fleeting memory came over her and she allowed herself to explore it. 

_ “You know, you could possibly be blessed by Gaia herself, Ashefa. No one else in the tribes has ever not had the ability to have children. Perhaps she has decided that your bloodline should have something to do with the gods.” Ashefa’s friend pointed out as both sat calmly.  _

_ Ashefa turned towards her friend and frowned, “I don’t think that’s the case, Rogund. Why would Gaia bar my ability to have a child or lock it behind such a kind of barrier? That’s not a blessing, Ro, that sounds more like a curse. And even if that were the case, what would be the point of it?” _

_ “We should not question Gaia or the gods, Ashefa. That usually never ends well.” _

_ “I know but still.”  _

Ashefa sighed as she pulled herself out of that memory, it would not do her any good to think on such things when she could do nothing for or about it now. Yet it did bring a wonder to her mind, a wonder she decided to dismiss as the laughter of the children brought her back to the present and she smiled once more as she watched them continue to play. “Gods above, that brings back so many childhood memories.” She said mostly to herself as she continued to watch the children play. She chuckled as she remembered how she, her own older brother, and her childhood friend Rogund, had been considered unholy terrors and she shook her head. Deciding to get up and move around for a while, Ashefa stood and called out to the children, catching their attention. “Be careful playing over there little ones and remember to not get too close to the water!” She called out as they responded with a “yes ma’am” causing her to chuckle once more. Ashefa turned and began to head towards her shop and, upon entering, she wasn’t too surprised to find that several people were milling about as they looked over the plants and other items they would need. Some were regulars, while others were new faces, and a couple belonged to those who worked there.

“Good afternoon Lady Ashefa!” One of those people currently working, a young bosmer woman, greeted Ashefa upon spotting her, causing a couple of people to turn and look in Ashefa’s direction but one in particular seemed surprised as they turned to see Ashefa. 

“Good afternoon, Sylileth. How have things been going so far?” 

“Calm as usually, my lady. Had a customer come in with a list earlier and told him I would give it to you to look over.” 

“I’m guessing it’s waiting on my desk?”

“As per usual,” Sylileth nodded as Ashefa smiled. 

“Alright, I’ll go and take a look to see what that customer needed. If you or anyone needs me you know where I’ll be.”

“Of course my lady.” Sylileth nodded once more as Ashefa made her way to the back of the building where her office was sitting and once more threw herself into her work as had become part of her normal and daily routine.

Some hours later as dusk was slowly closing in on the world, Ashefa found herself alone within her shop and taking down stock of the ingredients that had been sold that day. Her shop had steadily, over the years, become quite profitable, but unlike most “nobles” Ashefa did not keep the majority of the money for herself. Rather, she made sure that everyone who worked for her collected their fair share of the sales for what had been sold during the day. During the holidays, when sales either skyrocketed or plummeted, Ashefa would balance out their pay accordingly (and if sales plummeted or nothing had been sold, she often compensated those who worked for her with money from her own pocket). “Surprising how much was sold today,” She commented to herself as she continued to write. “Normally don’t sell this much unless the holidays have come around. Is there something coming up that I’m not aware of or have I lost track of time again?” She stopped writing to think about that for a moment before shaking her head. “Probably the latter.” A part of her was glad that no one was around to hear her talking to herself, though she really didn’t care if someone had heard her speaking to herself. For her, talking to herself was a sign of being alive and was a normal part of life. As she continued to work, she eventually decided to stop for a bit and sighed. “One of these days I’ll probably take a vacation like Sylileth keeps telling me to.” Ashefa sighed as she finally stood up and decided to gather up her work to take back to her home. “If you were to see me now old friend, you’d be bitching at me for working so much.” She chuckled softly as she finished gathering up the items and began to make her way out of the building. After locking up the door, she began to head towards Anvil and found herself lost in thought as had been normal for her for the past year or so as she walked though she was not aware of being watched as she made her way home.

***

_ Lavender and honey, a mixture of flowery and sweet scents combined together. That scent belongs to my mate. _ The thought ran rampant through the mind of the wolf-like beast as his wolven-colored eyes watched as Ashefa walked towards Anvil. While Ashefa’s natural scent of lavender and honey was enticing to him, there was yet another underlying scent that drove his beastal half wild. A scent only one such as he would pick up and it made it harder for him to control himself, yet he managed to keep his distance for those like him were usually not welcome within civilization during hours of transformation or ever really. Yet he wanted to meet her, to try and convince her that he was meant to be her life-mate but then another scent captured his attention and a low rumble sounded from deep within his chest as his eyes turned in the direction of where yet another being stood staring in Ashefa’s direction but this one was easily recognizable as nothing more than a vampire. A vampire that just so happened to already be a rival to the creature who had been following Ashefa’s scent first.  _ She is  _ **_MINE_ ** _!  _ The creature felt a snarl rising from where the rumble had come from but managed to contain it as he turned and raced off, he would not let the vampire sink his fangs into her. He would be damned to the void before he allowed that to happen. No, to the creature, Ashefa would be his and his alone and only the Daedric Princes themselves would take her from him. 

As the creature ran off, however, the vampire stood staring after Ashefa as she finally disappeared into the city and felt his unbeating heart racing. He had followed the scent of lavender and honey and had discovered it had belonged to Lady Ashefa, yet even he was surprised to discover that there was an underlying scent within her scent. A scent that had been masked by the constant scent of the Champion due to how often she and the champion had been seen together. “Lavender, honey and the clean scent of the air after a storm?” The vampire took a moment to gather his thoughts. “Or is that last part because she lives in Anvil?” He wondered before shaking his head. “No, the others of Anvil would too bear the scent of clean air. They smell mostly of the sea.” The vampire looked in another direction upon hearing the creature, who had been there no moments before, taking off and frowned. “So you too seek her affections? She could never love a witless beast like you.” The Vampire smirked then. “No I shall win her over and then, when she is ready, I shall turn her so she will join me in undeath.” The vampire turned and began to calmly walk in the direction of his home.


	3. Two

Ashes that covered the ground as if it was but a soft blanket of snow, burnt trees that littered the ground here or there with some of them still standing as if in defiance of whatever had happened here, fires that were slowly dying as they ran out of things to burn, and bones that would crumble away into dust of animals that had been unlucky enough or too slow to escape the very thing that had ended their existences and Ashefa, in her dark furred wolf form, walked through it all and, though she had been here before, it still came as a shock to her to see how truly devastating a wildfire could be. Her footfall, which was as silent as a cat on carpet, left the barest of hints of her passing upon the ashen ground. She had been here several times before, yet something about this visit felt strange. “I know this place…” She said somehow surprising herself by being able to speak out loud in wolf form. Suddenly the world around her, which had been barren and grey, grew just a hint darker as a shadow passed over her and she turned her gaze skyward to see what looked to be a shadowy outline of something akin to a dragon flying over her. “Was that...a dragon?” She inquired as the shadowy form vanished before raised voices caught her attention next. Flicking her ears, Ashefa cautiously made her way towards the direction of the voices and soon, while making sure to keep hidden, noticed that she was seeing a familiar figure and another figure that was less familiar to her. “What is…” Ashefa grew silent as she watched the two figures speak yet she could not make out the words of what they were saying, then a bright light caught her attention and caused her to turn and look at the cause and her eyes went wide as she saw the familiar looking ashen colored wolf before her, eyes filled with the wisdom of the years as fire burned around it. Something told Ashefa she knew this wolf, yet who it was eluded her at this moment in time.

_ She cannot save you anymore… _ Was all Ashefa heard from the strange ashen wolf before suddenly feeling a harsh wind suddenly picking up around her, whipping her fur around and forcing her to close her eyes and try to dig her claws into the ground to keep herself steady and on her feet.  _ And he...cannot protect you forever… You must let go of the past, my little river. _

***

Ashefa awoke to the morning sun streaming into her room, and nearly panicked before remembering where she was. Slowly sitting up, she began to rub her forehead to try and calm the already raging headache she felt rising. Contrary to what many would like to believe about her, Ashefa did not drink alcoholic beverages as she preferred teas and water. But whenever she had a raging headache the cause of it was usually due to the nightmares that would rise and try to drag her down into their shadowy depths. But last night’s dream was no nightmare, when the ashen wolf appeared it was never a nightmare, though she couldn’t say if it was a dream or if it was something else entirely. Shaking her head, Ashefa decided to attempt to prepare for the day, yet as she stood her headache grew worse and she was forced to sit down for several moments, before she finally managed to stand without the pain blinding her. After she was dressed, Ashefa began to head towards the kitchen but upon her arrival, she heard a noise and turned to see someone that she never thought to see appearing shortly after her arrival into the kitchen. “I would say I’m surprised to see you, but honestly it’s just too damn early for me to be surprised by anything.” She told the person as she turned back around to begin gathering the items she would need to begin brewing her usual tea, of course that meant she had to open the thing she kept her dried lavender in and soon enough the room began to smell of lavender as she opened the container.

A man dressed in heavy plate mail, his hair pulled back into a surprisingly complex set of braids, offered an apologetic smile to Ashefa. “I apologize for appearing on such short notice, Ashefa. It has been quite some time, hasn’t it?”

“Just consider it a good thing I’m used to you coming and going already,” Ashefa replied, before turning her gaze towards him. “And honestly, I’ve lost track of just how long it's been since we last saw each other.” She smiled back at him before returning to what she was doing.

“Several years, to be quite frank. I had not intended to disappear without a word. The Strange Door closed behind me, and I found myself trapped in the realm of the tyrant of Madness himself, Sheogorath.” The Champion of Cyrodiil gently set his helmet down near him, running a hand through his hair, which had turned to a very light gray, nearly white now. “The years have not been kind to me, either. That realm, it is named very aptly. The Shivering Isles. Sleep was nearly impossible there, and I found myself being the errand boy for the master of the realm.” The usually bright eyes of the Champion were now a faded green, with a strange mixture of gold now sprinkled around near his pupil. He slumped slightly, but managed to keep himself from stumbling.

Ashefa glanced at him with a slight frown, “You know you can sit down, You don't need my invitation to do so.” She reminded him as she finished gathering the items and began to heat the water, “And I’d hope the Shivering Isles were aptly named. And last I checked, Daedric Princes don’t need sleep, so I guess you no longer need it do you?” She said as she finally turned to him and leaned against the wall closest to her.

“I can never hide anything from you for long, can I? It’s as though you can always tell what happens around you. Not many have such observation skills, especially since most would simply think I received another blessing from the Divines.” The Divine Crusader chuckled good naturedly, but there was a touch of curiosity dancing in his eyes. “Have you been blessed by the God of Time, perhaps? He does always have the ability to see one’s true soul.”

Ashefa flinched back, “Thankfully no. I don’t mean that in a bad way, but as far as I know I’m just normal.” Ashefa closed her eyes as she wondered how she would explain how she knew things that no others did. Standing straight, she frowned as she let out a sigh. “My...knowledge… of things comes from the same reason you found me in that strange clothing.”

“Yes, the clothing that appeared so strange, I believed it to have come from the future. After all, the material was quite different than anything we use around here, except for potentially the High Elves and their clothing. Not that they would ever share their secrets with anyone, they’re quite reclusive.” The Divine Crusader stroked his now much fuller beard, a contemplative expression crossing his features.

Ashefa shook her head, “Please don’t remind me about those assholes, Sulivas. Had a rather nasty run in with one the other day and nearly lost my temper.” Ashefa usually didn’t mind the other people of Nirn, but the majority of High Elves brought a bad taste to her mouth. “As for my clothing you could call them futuristic in nature, but they, like me, are not actually  **_FROM_ ** Nirn at all. And before you ask, no I’m not Daedric. I am human though not of any human race from Nirn.” She told him wondering how he would react to that.

“So.. You travelled from another dimension, entirely separate from Nirn? Seems logical to me!” For a moment, the Divine Crusader’s eyes flashed golden as he made his proclamation before he cleared his throat. “After all, you have access to abilities that are quite different, yet similar to many that exist here. It would make the most sense out of all the options available.”

“It would make sense, if I could remember the events that led up to you finding me when you did. My abilities though, probably not so much.” Ashefa turned her gaze away to think about something for a moment. “I do apologize if this seems sudden, but for you to truly understand why I still struggle with the fact that I am here, I’ll have to do this. I know you are the Mad God and all that now, but I figure even you would struggle to know my mind as I doubt you can access it so easily as you are able to with the minds of those naturally born here on Nirn.” With that Ashefa called upon her magic and suddenly they were transported somewhere else. “Don’t worry, we are still on Nirn, we are just in my memories.” She told him quickly as she watched him look around at the sudden change of environment. “I can’t keep this up for long as it uses a large amount of my magic and until I can find a way to replenish it I have to save as much as I can.” Ashefa told him before smiling as she looked around. “I miss this forest. It was always my favorite place to come to as a little girl.” Ashefa sighed, “Before we go any further you must know that the world I come from is vastly different to what you are used to. We... There are things you will not understand and it will take too long to explain all of it now." Ashefa turned back to her dear friend, "Right now we are in the ancient Redwood forest in my world, a place that was considered… well.. is still considered sacred to my family and many of those who cared for my world. My world, Gaia as many of us called her, has or had many of the same plant-life and almost the same amount or kind of animals as Nirn. But the races upon Gaia… There are only humans but they were extremely diverse as you will soon see.” Ashefa turned slightly and motioned for her friend to follow. “Come and stick close. Even if we are in a memory it’s easy to get lost in this forest.” She told him as she began walking deeper into the forest. She didn’t need to look back to know that Sulivas was following her, but she also wouldn’t be surprised if he was in awe of the Redwood trees that loomed all around as they were very likely taller than even the graht-oaks of Valenwood. “We are here at the first of my memories.” Ashefa told him as she glanced at her dear friend to see him looking in the direction she now motioned towards. “Watch and listen and I will explain.” She told him as she turned to watch the memory herself.

Before Ashefa and Sulivas _was a rather large clearing (or well it looked like a large clearing but it was not as the trees were still quiet close) and in the center was a rather large Redwood tree and surrounding that tree was a large gathering of people, all in different outfits that looked similar to what Ashefa had been wearing the day of her arrival on Nirn. The large group of people ranged from all ages, from elderly men and women with grey, silver or white hair (and beards if they were men), to the smallest child. Each person was doing something different, from laughing with full on belly laughs at jokes or the recounting of childhood days, to young couples sticking close as they talked about their potential futures with one another to some teens chasing each other around and children playing with each other. Among these children, stood Ashefa, smiling as she climbed up upon a rather large fallen branch and calling out to her friends and brother as what seemed to be her parents and the parents of the other children looked on with laughter at the antics of their young ones. Walking among the humans of this large group were seemingly impossibly large animals (the majority looking like wolves, though a few bears, a couple of lions and lion-like animals, as well as a few looking like large birds), but soon it was revealed that these too were humans as magic soon wrapped around a few and they became humans once more._ If Sulivas were to look closer though, he would see that some of the humans and “shifters'' had tattoos (Like Ashefa did with the one tattoo on her right arm) while others were having their faces painted. “This is a particularly fond memory of mine as this was the day I was given my name.” Ashefa looked to her friend to explain. “Like most races on Nirn, the humans of Gaia, or Earth as she was more commonly called, are given names upon their birth. However among my family and my family’s friends and just in this particular grouping of people, we are given two names. The name given to us at birth that everyone else outside of this group called us by, and the name given to us by the elders that is revealed to them by Gaia upon our tenth year of life. This day just happens to be the day that I turned ten, and before you ask my “birth name” is actually Kelaria Hunt. However on this day it became the name I use now, the name you are so familiar with, and it is also the day my “spirit animal” the animal I use as my animal form, was revealed. But I will let the elder explain more once she arrives.” Ashefa told him as she turned back to watch the gathering.

Suddenly a much older woman appeared and everything began to settle down as she walked among the people. It was clear that everyone gave this woman great respect and moved out of her way immediately as she walked. Even Ashefa seemed to bow her head slightly despite this being a memory, which would seem odd as she had never given anyone on Nirn this same show of respect since Sulivas had known her. Before Sulivas could question it, the elder spoke up. _ “Today, on this day we have gathered together for a special purpose. Today the daughter of Varkar and Ahesh has been given a name revealed to me by our dear Mother Gaia, and is also the day her guiding spirit animal has also revealed herself. Kelaria, I ask that you come before me child, so all may learn both your new name as well as what animal has chosen you.” The woman called out to the younger version of Ashefa, who quietly and timidly, as everyone watched her, walked forward before stopping before the elder. “Do not be shy or afraid little one, For today Gaia has blessed you with a name never before given and your animal spirit is special as well. Are you ready, young one?” _

_ “I am ready, elder. I am ready to receive my new and true name as well as ready to know what my animal is.” The younger Ashefa replied as the elder smiled warmly at Ashefa’s excitement.  _

_ “Then know that from today on, only those outside of our tribe will call you Kelaria unless you should choose otherwise. From today on, you will be called Ashefa, of which Gaia has informed me herself, means river. Today you will be named Ashefa for you will be calm and collected when at peace, but strong and fierce when angered. You will not be able to be tamed by the demands of civilization, but will carve your own way in life like the rivers carve their way through the very earth we walk upon.” The elder spoke with a smile. “Now as for your animal spirit,” The elder’s smile grew, as did Ashefa’s excitement. “All who are or have wolven spirits, rejoice in song. Let the skies hear you sing and let the forest ring with your joy as today, young Ashefa joins you as her animal spirit is that of a young black wolf.” Suddenly the area began to ring with joyous howls, yips and the hollering of those who were either in wolf form or humans with wolven spirits. _

Beside Sulivas, Ashefa smiled, “That day, I decided to throw away my old name, only ever using it when in civilization as I felt it only right to use the name that Gaia herself decided to bless me with.” Ashefa explained before her smile faded into a more sorrowful expression. “If only I had known then that everyone's joy, even my own, would have been so short lived.” Ashefa sighed as she turned and looked back at her friend once more. “Follow me.” She told him as she began to walk once more with him following closely behind her once more. “What you are about to see next is something I am hesitant to let anyone know. But I trust you enough to let you see this. Where we go now, is the truth of my world.” Soon they stepped out of the forest and into a place that was vastly different. “In my world, humanity has advanced beyond even what the Dwemer of Nirn could ever have thought up or even comprehended.” She said as multiple strange vehicles passed by them. “On Gaia, humanity has figured out a way to make homes, transportation as well as everyday life, far easier.” Ashefa pointed towards a singular house and sitting outside of it was a teenage Ashefa, looking as if she was in a living hell. “My past is not easy for me to bear, but in this memory you will see what happened to me as not a year after what I consider my true “name day”, my parents were…” Ashefa closed her eyes then, “My parents were killed in a horrible accident which left my older brother and I as orphans. In the orphanage, my brother and I were separated and went to two different families. He went to a very rich couple who were desperate for a son, and I… came here… to suffer under the abuse of a man and his wife who both treated me as if I were less than dirt while their trueborn child received everything she wanted. Many nights ended with me crying myself to sleep, battered and bruised, or praying that the gods of any and all worlds would just kill me to end the suffering I was living in.” Ashefa told Sulivas, "After I reached the age of sixteen, I had decided that I was done with my own suffering and.. tried to end my own life. Hence why I bare the scars I have upon my wrists and my..." Ashefa reached up to touch the faint scaring upon her throat. She was not proud to admit that she had nearly been successful in taking her own life but she never looked away from her teenage self. "But it seemed to me that whatever cruel joke the gods were playing on me was something they refused to let end and I was " **_saved_ ** " from the cold… well at the time I believed it to be a welcoming thing, but the cold clutches of death and was thrown back into that miserable hellhole." Ashefa growled that one word as she felt rage trying to rise but squashed it back down. “The only friend I had during that time was the young man approaching me. On more than one occasion he would come over and try to free me from that household, well he and his mother would. This day just so happens to be the very one that allowed me to walk the path that would allow me to know more about Nirn then I had ever dared to hope. Although, at first, I had not taken an interest in it and wouldn’t for many years, this day in particular I remember well enough for it was the day that my friend’s mother and apparently his father had finally decided to end my constant suffering by taking me in, permanently.” Ashefa watched as her friend and her talked and watched as her face broke out into a full on smile as tears streamed down her face as she hugged her “new brother”. “The house is this way,” Ashefa spoke as she began walking down the street with Sulivas, and soon they arrived at the house and entered it. “I should also warn you, what you will witness now will come as a shock, but before I explain, watch and see what is going on.” With that Ashefa turned her gaze towards the interior of the house they stood in and felt a pang of sorrow. 

_ Upon what could be described as a couch of sorts was the now young adult Ashefa, in her hand was a strange device that she seemed to be staring boredly at before she sighed and seemed to press something on the side of the device and allowed it to fall upon her chest. “Bored dear sister?” The voice of her friend-turned-older brother sounded out as he came walking from where the bedrooms were located. Ashefa looked in the direction of her brother and frowned.  _

_ “Put on a shirt asshole,” She said as the voice of a woman called out and told her to watch her language. “Sorry mom!” Ashefa called back before looking back to her brother. “And no I’m not bored per say. I just don’t know what to do. I don’t like to say this but I hate having days off from work.”  _

_ “You do love working in that greenhouse don’t you?” _

_ “Why wouldn’t I? To be surrounded by the fresh scent of clean earth, flowers in bloom and hearing the sounds of birds calling from the trees while butterflies flutter around from plant to plant… It’s literally my kind of paradise.”  _

_ “It's too peaceful…” _

_ “To you maybe.” Ashefa frowned then as she turned to the larger device that had what looked to be pictures in motion flickering across the screen but that didn’t seem to hold her attention for long either, “I’m going to go see if anyone is on ESO.”  _

_ “Cyrodiil?” _

_ “Not unless my pvp buddies are on, which I doubt.”  _

_ “If you give me a bit, I can hop on and we can dungeon spam and quest for a while. You on your “Bow and arrow” only Nightblade and me on my Dragon Knight tank.” _

_ “If you want,” Ashefa stood up and stretched before both of her shoulders popped causing her to flinch.  _

_ “That sounded like it hurt.” her brother noted as Ashefa groaned.  _

_ “It did…” She said with a slight frown. “Let me know when you're ready, I think I have a few dailies for the Dark Brotherhood my Nightblade needs to do before I do any form of dungeon.” At that Ashefa’s brother gave a shocked look.  _

_ “I completely forgot about the dailies…”  _

_ Ashefa sighed then, “Dumbass.”  _

_ “MOM! ASHEFA CALLED ME A DUMBASS!” her brother called out and the response that followed had Ashefa busting up with laughter. _

_ “You walked into that one.” The woman that served as Ashefa’s mother called back as her brother stood there looking as if he had been slapped with a fish.  _

Ashefa sighed then as she closed her eyes. “There is one last memory I must show you before we leave. The one, that will explain everything. The one that will show you how I knew and know so much.” Ashefa told her friend before motioning for him to follow one last time. They soon approached a wooden door that Ashefa opened to reveal her old bedroom. “I will have to explain this one quickly as I can feel this memory-walking starting to take a toll on me. But, if you look to where I am sitting within this memory and look just over my shoulder you should see something that looks slightly familiar, yet different.” She watched him do just that and spoke once more. “In my world, Nirn and the whole of the dimension that you are from, the one I am with you in now, is nothing more than a made up story. At least that’s what everyone believes it to be. To those of my world, and formerly to me, Nirn, the Divines, The Daedric Princes, all of it… to us it's all just the made up story from the mind of a single person that grew larger with each passing year, though I highly doubt he knew that this dimension even existed as all humans upon Gaia believe ourselves to be alone and that the dimension I came from is the only one, though few actually believed or knew that to not be the truth.” Ashefa looked away from her friend then in a bit of shame. “At first I had no true interest in the history of your dimension. But over time, I came to learn to love it and, at that time, it was a way for me to escape the cruel reality of what my world had become.” Ashefa looked towards herself and frowned. “I, after discussing much about the world and history of Nirn, began to grow fond of it. I wanted to know every little detail that I could find, and even, like most of my friends, began to favor certain Daedric Princes over others but never really touched upon the Divines as they reminded me too heavily of the so called “God” that the people of my world worshipped as they lost touch with our true mother, Gaia. Well most of them. The only one I really have no issue with is Kyne or Kynareth, or whatever you prefer to call her, but that’s because I’m rather fond of storms and I see the beauty behind the storms that come, even though they can be truly devastating. But then again, Nature herself can be devastating, though she isn’t that way to be cruel and people, in general, seem to forget that.” Suddenly Ashefa felt herself stumble a little. “I will have to return us now. This has taken up quite a bit of my magic.” She told him as she righted herself and cast a spell once more, returning them back to Nirn and into the house. “Good to see that that spell really doesn’t take much time at all, if any, though it takes a lot of energy and magic out of me. Sadly, it also doesn’t help the raging headache I already had. And before you ask, I have no clue about anything about when or where I was gifted my magic, it just came to me one day, however I do know that it is tied to Gaia, and without some form of link to her, I will one day run out of magic and that alone could very likely kill me if I don't use my magic wisely. At least so long as I don't have a link to Nirn or anywhere else in this dimension, it could very likely kill me.” Ashefa told her friend as she began to rub at her forehead with eyes closing as she felt herself lean back against the wall in the hopes that it would help her keep her balance, or however much of it she had left after casting that spell. "But, now you know. I knew what would happen to you, and it was near maddening to have to force myself to not say a damn thing. Just like it will nearly drive me up the fucking wall to have to keep what I know about what will be coming in the future to myself as well. It's painful, and gives me a chance to say that I understand and greatly respect those poor bastards who are unfortunately "blessed" with true future sight and know any and all things that will happen in the far flung future. Knowledge of the future and the events to come is not a blessing, it's a damn curse and there is nothing I can do about it as I must keep it to myself until those events have passed." Ashefa placed a hand upon her head and over her eyes as the headache grew in pain to be blinding white now. If she didn't act soon or take the potion that the mages had prepared for her for moments like this, she would likely have to use her magic and that would only make the pain worse and, honestly, would be a waste of her magic as her own magic did not work when used upon herself (for reasons she just could not figure out nor explain). Soon she heard motion from her friend and knew it was due to his concern for her as he had learned when to tell if she had had nightmares (and when she was using too much of her magic) the night before.

Sulivas gently placed a hand on Ashefa. “Stay still for a moment, Ashefa. DO NOT use your magic. I might have something that can help you.” He snapped his fingers, and a daedric portal appeared behind him, as an older gentleman dressed in a fine black suit with a red undershirt appeared. “Haskill, I need you to retrieve the Sands of Time from my private quarters. You know where I put it, yes?”

The finely dressed man, Haskill, gave a short nod to Sulivas with a small smile. “Of course, my lord. Would you like me to get some tea for your friend as well? You are both quite fond of it, from what you have told me.”

“Yes, that would be lovely, Haskill. Thank you dearly.” Sulivas smiled at Haskill and clasped his arm for a moment, before the other man disappeared back through the portal that had brought him there in the first place. “Haskill is a very loyal man, I trust he’ll make a timely reappearance. Do try not to dwell in the future for too long, Ashefa. Nothing good comes of remaining in the visions, even the Time Gods know this well.” He clapped her shoulder gently.

Ashefa managed a small chuckle as she pulled her hand away as the pain subsided enough to allow her vision to return to normal. “I haven’t been using my magic since I was attacked in my wolf form. Today was the first time in a long time.” She informed him as she managed to turn towards Sulivas. “As for the future, I’ll try not to but can’t make any promises.”

“You already told me before that your magic is not able to regenerate before we parted ways. I may have begun researching a way for your magic to recover here in Nirn, though it is a bit dangerous. It’s not been tested, but I made a deal with Akatosh when I was still the Divine Crusader, and he managed to speak with your Gaia, I believe. The end result was an hourglass, filled with magical sand from your world. I call it the Sands of Time. Not a very original name, but it might just work. The sands are filled with magic from your world, and naturally refills after a short period, at least that is what I theorize.”

Ashefa absorbed that information for a moment before turning away. “Sands like those aren’t a part of the physical world that Gaia took the form of…” Ashefa began thinking. “At least not the ones you received… But where they do come from…” Ashefa allowed herself to trail off. She had heard of the true Sands of Time, and their magical properties. Yet even she knew that where the sands themselves came from was not a place that things could be just taken from. “I wonder…” 

Haskill reappeared a moment later, carrying a small tray with a tea set, as well as a large hourglass which swirled with the strange sand that Sulivas had described. He offered the hourglass to Ashefa without a word, then set the tea set down upon a table, which appeared out of thin air. He poured hot water into one of the cups, putting a single teaspoon of sugar in, then placed a small tea bag in the water. After stirring it around, and ensuring that the sugar had fully dissolved, he poured a small amount of milk into the cup, cooling the water down a bit. “What would you like with your tea, madam?”

Ashefa did not answer, she really couldn’t when she had felt the power from the Sands and could rightfully say that the Sands carried the power of Gaia, but also another power that she just could not name to save her life in that moment. Yet the other power was extremely familiar to her, as familiar to her as Gaia’s power but the name of who the power belonged to eluded her.

“She prefers her tea with a dash of honey, Haskill. No milk, and no sugar either.” Haskill nodded in acknowledgement, preparing the other glass of tea for Ashefa and setting it down in front of her. “Thank you dearly, Haskill. You’re a savior.” Sulivas smiled at Haskill, who simply gave him a short nod.

“Of course, my lord. It was nothing. I do hope you and your dear friend will be alright for a while, I have to attend to the court matters in your absence.” Haskill disappeared again, summoning his own portal to go through, which closed a moment later.

Shortly after Haskill left, Ashefa was able to regain her usual thought process and turned to see that he was gone. “I didn’t mean to ignore him,” She said quietly before turning to Sulivas. “The Sands though, I just wasn’t expecting the powers they have running through them and it took me by surprise.” 

“Yes, well Akatosh does not tend to do things halfway. There is a chance what is contained within the hourglass is much more than I originally thought. I presume so, considering what you have just said.”

Ashefa frowned, “There is more, The Sands contain some of Gaia’s power that much is true. And some of Akatosh’s as well or what I think is his, though if it is his it’s lesser than you would likely believe. But the main power present, the one that took me by surprise the most…” Ashefa closed her eyes for a moment, “I don’t know how I know it, but that power is the most present and is still quite powerful, mind you, and it tells me that the Sands came from a place where things cannot be taken from without a heavy price…” Ashefa trailed off for a moment before opening her eyes once more, “I fear what price Gaia had to pay to remove even this small amount of sand.” Suddenly a soft, yet surprisingly loud, meow sounded from the nearby open window and Ashefa turned to see a sleek furred pitch black housecat with the brightest orange eyes, sitting on the window sill before it jumped down and began to walk over to her, before finding itself rubbing against Ashefa’s legs. Setting the hourglass down carefully, Ashefa soon leaned down to scoop the black cat into her arms and smiled as the cat headbutted her with loud and very happy purrs. “I was wondering where you ran off to, Midnight.” Ashefa smiled as the cat rubbed against her. “Pestering your girlfriend again, you little rascal?” Ashefa teased the black cat who meowed once more before the cat turned to Sulivas and began to study him. “He’s a friend, Midnight. He won’t harm me.” Ashefa told the black cat before looking to Sulivas. “Before you ask, I found him two years ago as a nearly starved kitten. Brought him here, managed to get him back into health,” She felt her friend give her a look, “No I didn’t use my magic,” She immediately told Sulivas knowing what the look he gave her was for. “But I managed to get him back in great health and Midnight is still here. Honestly at this point I’d say he’s trying to prove himself so he can become my familiar.” Ashefa told Sulivas as Midnight began purring once more as if trying to prove her words correct.

“Yes, well I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if that turned out to be true. Especially with how close the two of you seem. The bond may already be in its beginning stages. After all, not all familiars are spiritual like here in Tamriel.” Sulivas took a sip of his tea.

Midnight continued to purr as he settled down for a moment before leaping onto the table and sat there, his tail falling over the edge of the table and flicking back and forth slowly as he looked back towards Sulivas and watched him for several moments before closing his eyes as Ashefa reached over to run her hand along Midnight’s sleek fur causing the cat to purr some more. “I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the bond was in its beginning stages,” Ashefa smiled. “The thing about familiars where I’m from is that they have a tendency to amplify the magic of whoever they are bonded to.” Ashefa listened to Midnight’s purr, before a thought struck her, causing her to turn to her friend as she pulled away from her beloved cat. “I’ll be right back, I think I have something that belongs to you.” She said as she dismissed herself and went upstairs to retrieve whatever it was, leaving Midnight and Sulivas alone for the moment.

Midnight, for his part, watched her leave before turning to Sulivas and studying him closely. “So the new version of the Mad God makes his first ever appearance upon Nirn. I should be surprised but I’m not.” He studied Sulivas for a moment more before raising up a front paw and began licking at it before running it against his head and face. “You do know that she has missed you, correct?”

“Yes, I did know. While I could not be here physically, it did not mean I was not watching over her.” Sulivas smiled, looking down at Midnight. “I take it she has no idea of your ability to speak?”

Midnight stopped rubbing his paw upon his face and yawned before looking back to Sulivas, “You could say that. I choose not to speak when she’s around, she has enough to deal with and me adding my ability to speak is not something she needs to worry about.” Midnight soon laid down with his front and back legs tucked under him as his tail curled around him. 

“Very fair, very fair indeed. I feel that an old friend of mine would get along quite well with you. Though I’m not certain a tiger would play nice with you.” Sulivas chuckled lightly, sipping more of his tea.

Midnight chuckled, “Probably not,” Midnight turned away from Sulivas for a moment to watch the area Ashefa had disappeared into, “Are you aware she is being stalked?” 

“Yes and no. I am aware of someone or something attempting to get close to her, but as a Daedra with no champion, I am limited in my influence over this realm. It takes a lot of energy to appear here and keep this form. Thus, I only know small bits.”

Midnight looked back at him, “Then be thankful I chose to speak with you, for nothing goes without the notice of cats. It is not just one person. It is two with a hidden third. I am aware that the two currently stalking her are a werewolf and a vampire. The werewolf, from my understanding, will not try anything yet but the vampire. He is already on the move, do not be surprised if you decide to return here to find her missing,” Midnight’s tail flicked.

“Werewolves are patient creatures, preferring the thrill of following their prey and getting into a situation which would benefit them best. It makes sense that that one would be more passive in their attempts. A vampire though is quite a different story. Fueled by their bloodlust or hunger, they can be quite a foe and always pursue what they want.” Sulivas stroked his beard in thought. “Well, there is something I could do to help protect Ashefa..”

Midnight yawned once more, “Then you better act quickly, even I cannot tell you what the vampire plans or when he plans to strike, I just know that he has begun to act. A few of his thralls have been moving around carefully, though I can’t say seeing humans, elves and beastfolk that are not Khajiit moving carefully is graceful in any way,  _ unless it comes to my mistress _ .” Midnight closed his eyes, “For what we “housecats” are worth I will tell you that we are usually pretty good about keeping track of such things, and with the way my mistress treats all the animals here in Anvil, it is no surprise that all of us are in agreement to the fact that you would likely be the one of the first to know.” One of Midnight’s bright orange eyes opened to study Sulivas then. “However, Mad God, know that you are not the only Daedra wanting to keep her safe. The other is lesser, and unfortunately bound to the Prince of Destruction at this moment, though when he comes to find her, he will end up breaking away from his current Prince.” Midnight reclosed his open eye. “However he is not the hidden third stalking my mistress. No, the one that remains hidden, has only been described to me as an ashen grey colored wolf like creature. Not like a werewolf but more like what I’ve heard my mistress used to use her magic on.” Midnight informed Sulivas before one of his ears swiveled towards the upstairs area. “She is coming back, so I will stop speaking now. I would suggest you get at least one housecat that can come and go from your realm, Mad God. As they will be able to keep you more informed about what is happening here on Nirn.” With that Midnight opened his eyes and looked in the direction that Ashefa came from now. 

“Sorry it took me a bit, had to remember where I put the item. I hope Midnight didn’t give you too much trouble.” Ashefa smiled as she returned and walked over to hand something to Sulivas. “I believe this belongs to you,” She gave him the item before turning to go sit down and sighed. “The sweet roll had to wait until the next day after I returned, however you didn’t have to leave your family ring.” She told him as Midnight stood and walked over to jump down into her lap and began to purr as she began to pet him once more.

“The cat was no problem at all, he was actually rather affectionate and was overall pleasant.” Sulivas gently grasped his family ring, offering a small smile to Ashefa. “I wanted to leave a symbol that would tell you I was still alive, as I did not know you knew what my fate would be.”

Ashefa looked away, “It’s not like I could have told you. I do have to tread carefully. My presence alone could mess with things. That’s part of the reason I refused, and still refuse, to enter the Imperial City. Well that and I don’t exactly trust large cities considering where I lived before ending up here.” Ashefa closed her eyes for a moment, “Which if I remember correctly, the first and last time you took me there, was the first time you ever saw my wolf form.” Those who knew of her wolf form often found it odd. She, naturally, only stood at the average height of five foot two, yet in her wolf form she was just at the shoulder of a six foot tall man. While she was also in her wolf form, when in comparison to her friend, she was just under his shoulder. She also knew that her wolf form’s fur color was black, but had an almost blue sheen to it. However no one had ever described her eye color properly, as some had told her that her eyes were a dark blue while others had stated that they were light blue. Neither of which she could honestly believe, but then again, she was friends with the Champion of Cyrodiil turned Daedric Prince of Madness, stranger things had happened, could happen and very likely  **_would_ ** happen. 

“Yes, your wolf form was quite popular with the children running around the Imperial City, wasn’t it? They seemed to think you were some magical beast from the Divines, or something that was too adorable not to approach. The irony of your massive wolf form being seen as adorable still grants me a good chuckle to this day.” Sulivas smiled at the fond memory. “Though I do recall telling you that you did not need to accompany at all that particular day. You always were quite stubborn when you decided you wanted to find an alternate way around someone’s words.”

Ashefa didn’t even need to think before something went flying at him with deadly accuracy, despite her knowing he would either catch it or dodge it. “You can go fuck yourself,” She huffed as Midnight looked up with curiosity in his eyes at whatever she had just thrown at Sulivas. ‘You seemed to derive some form of amusement from seeing those children playing around and on me. That was not so fun for me feeling my fur and ears being pulled by the much younger members of that group you asshat.” Ashefa nearly snarled. “As for the way around that, you also have to remember that I was still quite new to this world and I have a bad tendency to stay as close to those who are willing to help me out. I won’t enter that place as a human, I’ve lived in big cities most of my life after my birth parents died, I don’t exactly trust the larger cities when in my human form, but in my wolf form I find that a lot of people tend to think twice about messing with me, unless its children…” 

Sulivas caught what Ashefa threw his direction, raising an eyebrow at the action. “Really? A book of all things?” He let out a small chuckle, setting the book down on a table nearby. His eyes softened, his tone becoming a bit gentler. “I remember well that you were still new to this world. I could see your curiosity, yet your caution was always creeping in. Always made me have a pause, thinking that one day I might fail once more at protecting someone. For all your caution, there were moments I remember where you allowed yourself to be vulnerable, where something in you shifted completely. I’m certain if old Uriel or Martin were still alive, they would have quite enjoyed your company and felt refreshed by such acts. After all, many who grew up here are far too trusting or blind to things that happen around them. The Septims were much like you, Ashefa.”

“It was the only thing next to me that wouldn’t break if I threw it,” Ashefa frowned but only shook her head. “I don’t think they would have enjoyed knowing that I am a wild card from an entirely different dimension who owes her allegiance to no one here, minus you of course. It did also take me several days if not nearly a month to learn to trust you, after all. I’m, sadly, also not fond of any form of royalty, and it would have taken them possibly longer then you to earn my trust.” She sighed, as she leaned back a bit to close her eyes. She could clearly remember the day she had met her friend, she had been frightened, injured and it hadn’t helped that he had startled her causing her to feel like a caged wolf (despite them having met in the middle of one of the many forests) and making her go on the defensive. “Of course I still also believe that you had to have been batshit levels of insane to approach me that day anyways.” Opening her eyes, she turned her gaze back to her friend. "How did you even manage to find me? I could have sworn I was doing pretty damn well at hiding my tracks despite my injuries."

“By mistake, if I’m being completely honest. You and I just happened to cross paths by dictation of fate, I suppose. When I would wander, I would often distract myself with my thoughts, as to fill the void of silence between combat or conversation. I did tend to travel alone, after all. The roads seemed to pass by much faster that way, although it would tend to lead to me surfacing one of the many failures I had. Loss has never been easy for me to face, as I’m certain you know.” Sulivas smiled, though it did not reach his eyes. “On that particular day, I had allowed my thoughts to travel back to my home, the city of Kvatch. To see it in such a state, the townsfolk running for their lives or slaughtered.. It still haunts me, even as I am now. So many innocents, lost to the folly of man and their insatiable greed. That day alone nearly broke me, and to have been one of the only survivors of the assault itself, seemingly unharmed as so many guards and legionaries fell to the throes of Daedra that flooded the city.. It was chilling. I always found myself asking why I had been spared, why of all the people in this realm I was the one to save Cyrodiil. When I encountered you, I hardly even registered you were there. I’m certain you saw the faraway look in my eyes.”

“I certainly didn’t miss it,” Ashefa admitted, “and I won’t lie but there was a part of me hoping you would just pass by.”

“I’d say had I done so, fate would have found another spot for us to have met. Akatosh did seem quite insistent that we ran into each other quite frequently after that first time, after all.” Sulivas took a deep breath, attempting to banish the images of his home in shambles, the buildings burned to the ground or ripped apart, the smell of smoke and burnt flesh filling the air. “If I didn’t know any better now, I would suspect that you were of his blood, and he wished for me to protect you. I suppose it’s not very far off, as your Gaia was willing to bridge the gap between our realms to grant you the Sands of Time to ensure you would replenish your magic.”

Ashefa frowned as she looked to debate on something for a moment, “The Sands will replenish my magic, but even that’s only temporary.” She heard Midnight begin to purr once more but looked away from her friend. “This is going to hurt like a bitch for me, but I can confirm that in roughly two hundred or so years from now there will be a dragonborn.” She told him as she waited for the sudden rise of pain, pain which didn’t take long to begin ripping through her.

Sulivas gently placed a hand on Ashefa, shaking his head. “Ashefa, you know that I do not need to know the future. Please, do not hurt yourself by telling me of the events that may happen.” Ever so gently, Sulivas cast a healing touch spell upon Ashefa, attempting to help sooth her pain. While he knew full well it would not do much, he did not wish to see his friend in such a state, and helped in what little way he could.

Midnight opened his eyes and looked up towards Ashefa with a concerned meow escaping him. Ashefa let out a pain sigh, “I know I don’t need to.” She told him, “I just know that there will be one, I just can’t say what all they will do, why they will come around or even what gender or race they will be. Those last two parts of the gender and race being complete wild cards, mainly the race part.” She told him as the pain slowly subsided. “Damn, that hurt worse than the first time I used my wolf form and that, in and of itself, is far more painful then what a werewolf has to go through.” 

‘Well, there will be no more of that, alright? For your own sake.” Sulivas offered Ashefa a hand, a small smile on his face.

Ashefa felt Midnight move before speaking, “I’ll try not to do anymore of that.” She told him as she took his offered hand, while Midnight went back to the window he had arrived into the house from. While she would not tell her friend her reasoning behind telling him what little she did, she could say that it had confirmed a deep suspicion she had had for a while now. “As for your home city of Kvatch,” Ashefa gave her friend a smile. “I’ve heard that they’ve started rebuilding it. Well most of it has been rebuilt from what I’ve heard from rumors and things from the guards and townsfolk around here. But I personally don’t know how far along they are and I won’t until the middle of this week when a few of those who work for me and I go to take some supplies up there.” She informed her friend, wondering how he would take that news. She had never missed the way he spoke of his home when he did speak of it, nor the pained look he would have in his eyes when he spoke of it or was even thinking of it. She could not begin to imagine the levels of mental anguish Sulivas had gone through, and so had silently sworn to herself that if she could find a way to restore what she could of his home of Kvatch, then she would even if it took her years. Often more then not, Ashefa had wondered about her own world, but while that part of her wondered, another larger part of her knew that it was likely better that she never found out or waited for the right time to discover what had happened to bring her to Nirn (then again she also could not sense the slight flinch that came from a certain Time God as he watched this exchange between Sulivas and Ashefa).

"I was unaware that there was a rebuilding effort going on. It seemed more important for the capital to be repaired first, as Chancellor Ocada was more concerned with the appearance of stability. If the capital seemed unaffected, minus the death of the ruling regime. The Empire has been in disarray since the passing of Martin Septim, as he was the last of the Septim blood."

“Well apparently someone got their shit together and got off their asses, last I heard the capital is near finished with their repairs, again that’s just what I’ve heard. If I wanted to confirm, I’d have to use my wolf form or the other one that took me nearly a month before I could shift back from. Though I’m sure we both remember that first week.” The wolf form wasn’t Ashefa’s  **_ONLY_ ** animal form, it was just her preferred animal form and the one she was most proficient with. The other was much much rarer and she often had a fondness for laying in fire when she used it as it was the only time fire was her best friend. “Kvatch wouldn’t have been touched for another few years if a mysterious Noble hadn’t intervened a couple years back. Though I will say the next person to call me a Noble will very likely get a nip of the frosty aura that comes from my uncontainable temper.” Ashefa huffed. She  **_hated_ ** when people called her a noble and was insistent that she was  **_NOT_ ** a Noble. She looked to her friend, “Don’t even make a comment on that, I don't care if you are the Daedric Prince of Madness, I will hit you.”

“Of course, you do hate being called a noble. I will respect that, though it is quite comical how people will assume one's status with little to no knowledge of the individual. People immediately deemed me a noble, despite having been a prisoner a few hours before I properly entered the Imperial City.” Sulivas let out a short laugh, clearing his throat a moment later. “There is no need to unleash your aura anytime soon, and there is no need to swing at me either.”

Ashefa gave him a look, “I said I would if you called me a noble. You did not, therefore you get out of this freely, this time.” She informed him before hearing Midnight hiss and growl low. “The aura part however…” She said as she turned to look in Midnight’s direction, knowing there was only one person who the cat tended to hiss and growl at. “I swear if that’s who I believe it to be, he will end up with more than a nip of cold.” 

Sulivas raised an eyebrow and walked over to where Midnight was currently hissing up a storm to see who had arrived at Ashefa’s home. “Were you expecting company, Ashefa?”

“No. But if that’s who I think I believe it to be from the way Midnight is acting, then there’s only one person in any world who can’t seem to get a clue and leave me alone.” She informed her friend. “And trust me, I’ve tried to be nice about telling him to go royally fuck himself. I’m honestly about ready to kill him if he doesn’t leave me alone and you have no idea how many times I’ve considered using my other animal form to skewer him despite the fact that it takes me a month to shift back from it.” 

“Well then, why don’t I greet your uninvited guest then? I’m certain it won’t take long.” Sulivas offered Ashefa a bright smile.

“I won’t stop you, like I said I want to skewer him. So if you want to deal with the walking and talking headache feel free. I’ll just disappear upstairs if he comes in, least I give into my desire to kill him on the spot. Just keep in mind it’s likely about to get really cold.” She nodded towards Sulivas.

Sulivas walked over to Ashefa’s door, opening it to see who was behind it and had arrived unannounced. “Greetings, may I help you?” He had shifted his form to appear as a serving hand of sorts, dressed in a suit-like outfit and an overall well-kept look. His hair was now a dark brown, pulled back out of his face into a ponytail.

Ashefa only shook her head, but prepared to walk away as the person looked to see Sulivas standing at the door. “Is Lady Ashefa home?” The person inquired, and Ashefa felt herself bristle at the voice. 

_ Yep, its fucking Gavrin… _ She had to clench her jaws from making any form of sound or smartass remark as her aura began to rise like a hooded cobra getting ready to strike.

“She is, however she is feeling a bit.. Under the weather, per say. She is currently not receiving guests. However, if you would like, we can step out for a moment and I can deliver a message for you.” Sulivas offered Gavrin a sweet smile, which if Ashefa saw, she knew was absolutely fake and tended to spell horribly for those receiving it.

Ashefa fought back a smile of her own, mainly for two reasons. One was that she did recognize the smile she could sense from her friend, and the other reason was that she was just hoping that Gavrin would be killed soon.

Gavrin nodded as he stepped back from the door to allow Sulivas to step out.

Sulivas stepped out and closed the door behind him, the same smile still adorning his features. “Now, let us make this brief, shall we? I have to tend to Lady Ashefa soon. Care to tell me why the stench of a vampire hangs around your form?”

“Excuse me?” Gavrin inquired, wondering just how this person could possibly know that.

Sulivas pulled down the seams of the gloves he wore, which had started to fold up when he had opened the door. “I thought I was rather blunt with my question. Why is the stench of a vampire upon you? I am aware you have been seeing Lady Ashefa for some time now, so where does the stench come from?”

Gavrin frowned, “I do not think it is your place to question that. What business is it of yours to make demands of me?”

“Well, as someone who is currently taking care of and watching over Lady Ashefa, I find it is my business to know of everyone that approaches her door.” Snapping his fingers, a table appeared before Sulivas and Gavrin. “Why don’t we take a seat?”

Gavrin looked at the table and wondered where it had come from. Tables couldn’t just be manifested from thin air unless it was an extremely powerful mage or a Daedric Prince, but he doubted this man was a Daedric Prince but he sighed. “If that will make you happy.” 

“I did this more for your benefit, really. Standing up can be such a pain for those without strong backs. One might even say spineless fools fall into that category well.” Sulivas took a seat, clapping his hands and making a tea set manifest. “Make yourself comfortable, this will be quite a talk.”

Gavrin almost bristled as he sat down. He couldn’t tell if this man was trying to insult him or not but he kept that thought to himself as he sat down.

“Now, let us start by me asking your name, sir.” Sulivas poured himself a glass of tea, which was held within a small kettle made of iron.

“Gavrin Faliulus,” Gavrin gave his name easily enough. 

‘Well, Mr. Faliulus, might I ask what your interest in Lady Ashefa is then? It is not often she gets guests that have not received an invitation.” Sulivas smiled behind his cup as he took a sip of his tea.

Gavrin began to wonder why this man even wanted to care but figured a little lie wouldn’t hurt. “I check on her often. It's not everyday someone like her is attacked by whatever remains of the Silver Dawn because of a mistake they made. I worry that she still hasn’t fully recovered, and I also seek to convince her that she should allow someone of noble birth to court her.” Gavrin wondered if that would satisfy the man but continued. “I worry what living alone could do to her mental state.” That last part was a lie. He didn’t worry about what it could do to her, it wasn’t his job to worry about it anymore.

“Hmm, so why then do I sense the stench of a vampire upon you? Are you a vampire? Or is there something else that is going on? I am not going to reveal what you say to anyone, I am simply attempting to keep Lady Ashefa safe from harm.”

Gavrin began to suspect that this man was not just what he was acting as. “A friend of mine is interested in courting her that is all I will say.” he spoke while wondering why this person was so intent on discovering why he had the scent of a vampire upon him. 

“Ah, a friend you say?” Sulivas got to his feet, setting his glass of tea down on the table in front of him. He walked around the table, keeping eye contact with Gavrin the entire time. “I’m sure you wouldn’t mind me checking to ensure you haven’t been bitten then. After all, I need to ensure you will not be a danger to Lady Ashefa.” His eyes twinkled brightly, and his hand rested on Gavrin’s shoulder.

Gavrin looked to the man, “What? Why would I even come near her if I was bitten? I wouldn’t…” Gavrin trailed off then as a realization came to him. “You’re no butler, nor any servant. Ashefa wouldn’t take on anyone as any form of servant.” Gavrin tried to free himself of the man’s grasp. 

“Well, you’re technically correct there.” Sulivas gripped Gavrin’s shoulder tightly, applying a bit of pressure to his shoulder’s nerves. A golden light leapt from his left hand, slowly moving around Gavrin’s neck and disappearing unless it found a specific type of wound.

Gavrin fought against the man to the best of his ability though he could not get away even if he tried. If it was made known that he was a “victim” (or rather made known that he was a formerly willing person) of becoming a vampire’s thrall, his life would be forfeit and he needed to do everything to ensure Ashefa would become his master’s bride. “Damn you! Release me!”

“I think not. For you see, a Vampire’s thrall has no reason to be close to Lady Ashefa.” Sulivas summoned a blade from thin air, which pulsed with Daedric magic. He chuckled, pressing the blade lightly against Gavrin’s neck, drawing a small bit of blood. “Now tell me, why are you really here? Either we can do this the easy way, you telling me up front, or I’ll go rooting around inside your mind for the answers.”

“Why would I tell you anything?” Gavrin snarled. “It is no business of yours.”

“Oh, that is where you are very wrong Gavrin Faliulus. It is entirely my business. Does the Divine Crusader perhaps ring any bells for you?” Sulivas grinned, slicing a bit of Gavrin’s skin, causing a bit more blood to begin to escape from his neck.

Gavrin hissed, “He is gone. As far as anyone knows he died. Why should that matter?” 

“Once more, you are so very wrong. Disappearing does not make one dead, it simply means they did not want to be found or had other.. Duties to attend to.” Sulivas slowly shifted his form back to his original, starting with his face. “Yes, I do find it infinitely amusing how mortals perceive the passage of time now. I am gone for a few decades, yet you think I am dead.”

Gavrin felt himself freeze up.  _ “Impossible… _ ” Upon watching Sulivas change back to his original form, he knew he was now royally fucked and a tiny part of him wondered if Ashefa wasn’t some form of family to Sulivas.

“Now, why don’t we take this somewhere a bit more.. Private, shall we?” A portal opened below Gavrin, and he found himself falling through before he could even comprehend what had happened. Sulivas floated next to him, yawning as though he was bored. A moment later, Gavrin’s chair struck solid stone, yet managed to remain intact, despite the pain that shot through his legs from the impact. “Ohh, that will be a few fractures in your calves from that impact. Terribly sorry.”

Gavrin managed to hold back a cry of pain before looking back towards Sulivas with a glare. 

“Welcome to the Shivering Isles, Gavrin Faliulus, the realm of the Daedric Prince of Madness, Sheogorath..” Sulivas let out a short laugh, a fine staff appearing in his hands a moment later. “Now, I’m certain you’re rather eager to begin the tour, so let us begin!” Chains slowly grew from the ground, wrapping around the chair Gavrin was trapped in, binding him to the chair so he could not move. Sulivas waved his hand as he began to stroll across the room, and the chair Gavrin sat upon animated, moving to follow in the other man’s wake.

Gavrin felt fear beginning to creep up from somewhere with him. Not only did he now know that Sulivas was alive, he could also tell that in some shape or form, the man he thought formerly dead had some kind of power over this place as well. Royally fucked would no longer be the right words for what was happening.

“Now, most people are not given the grand tour of this place, as the Mad God tends to be a very.. Busy individual. However.. Haskill!” Sulivas snapped his fingers, and Haskill appeared a moment later, looking a bit annoyed as he appeared slightly in the air.

“You called, my lord?” Haskill gave a short bow to Sulivas.

“Yes, my friend. I want you to give our lovely.. Guest here the grand tour of the dungeons of the Shivering Isles. I’m certain he’ll be able to find out about his new living arrangements soon enough.” Sulivas gave a short nod to Haskill, who took control over the animated chair with little effort.

Gavrin felt his breath catch. Only one person, one being, could summon the chamberlain of the Mad God, and now Gavrin could fully say that the words “royally fucked” were no longer the right words for what he had gotten himself into.

Sulivas opened another portal, walking through and leaving Gavrin to whatever fate Haskill deemed fit for the thrall. He trusted his old friend, and he had other business to attend to.


	4. Three

As Sulivas did whatever he was doing with Gavrin, Ashefa decided it would probably be wise for her to finish the paperwork she had started the day before. While she was not a fan of doing paperwork, she knew it was a necessity if she were to keep her store up and running properly. As she sat at her desk, she looked over some of the papers while marking or signing off on others. Midnight, who had watched Sulivas and Gavrin carefully, had finally decided to join his beloved Mistress who had moved to her office. Sitting on the edge of her desk and watching her complete her paperwork was boring, but it wasn’t like there was much more she could do. Turning to Midnight, Ashefa decided to take a bit of a break and, setting her quill down, she placed her chin on one of her hands as the other reached out to begin scratching the dark cat’s chin causing the cat to begin purring with eyes closing as his tail began swishing slowly. “Sooner or later I’ll have to do as Sylileth recommends and just take a vacation before I lose my mind doing all this paperwork.” Ashefa spoke to the cat who continued to purr at the gentle touch of his Mistress. As she thought it over, Ashefa sighed as she came to realize that it had been so long since she had used either of her animal forms that if she were to even think of taking a vacation and using either, that vacation would likely result in her being gone for, at the very least, a month if not longer. Midnight, for his part pulled away from Ashefa before walking over to her head and bumping his forehead against her cheek. “You know Midnight, I’m pretty damned glad that most people, no matter what world they are from, see it as normal to talk to companion animals.” She chuckled softly as Midnight meowed his agreement. “But it's not like I would mind anyway if they didn’t. I’d probably still just talk to you anyway.” She told the black cat who continued to rub against her, this time with his cheek. “If I did go anywhere for a month I’d have to see if someone wouldn’t mind stopping by to make sure you were fed while I was gone.” She sighed softly as Midnight pulled away to watch her sorrowful look cross her face and felt his heart sting before he moved closer to rub against her chin one more time before curling up near her and purring. It pained him to see her in such a mood as it was one he was all too familiar with, beings that it was the same look she would get when she had been missing her dear friend. But this time it was slightly different as well. This time the look spoke of her past pets, ones that she had had where she had come from and that was a pain no cat or dog wanted to see upon their Master’s or Mistress’s face. “You know, I do sometimes wonder if you aren’t my old cat given a second chance at life. You have the same kind of loud purr, and the same sweet attitude, along with the same protective hissing and snarling when someone neither of us likes approaches.” Ashefa decided to scoop up Midnight, and he purred even louder (something she wasn’t even sure of being possible). “I miss that crotchety old bastard, but I have a feeling you’ll be the same way when you reach the age he was at.” She told the cat who she pet along the head and spine of before deciding to rest him in her lap before she began writing a note to Sylileth. A note that told the young bosmer woman that Ashefa was likely not going to be coming in for the next month and to handle everything as if she were in charge, just like Ashefa had taught her. “When I get back from vacation, I’ll raise the pay for everyone for having to put up with me being gone for a month.” She promised herself as she finished writing the note (making sure to ask Sylileth if she wouldn’t mind checking up on Midnight and making sure he was fed as well while she was gone). “I just hope things don’t get too busy for them while I am away.” She sighed as she set her quill down and leaned back. _Maybe this time, I’ll use my other animal form instead of my wolf one. Not many are stupid enough to mess with a black and red, fire breathing predatory unicorn like creature and if they are they often find themselves in a bad spot afterwords._ Ashefa chuckled as a memory of the first time Sulivas had seen her use her unicorn form came up. Not only had she nearly scared the man shitless on multiple occasions, both he and her had discovered that he was also the only one able to get close to her to calm her down should something manage to frighten or anger her, though the frighten part was much rarer then the anger part. But now as she thought it over, it **_HAD_ ** taken her nearly a month if not a full month before she had been able to transform back into her normal form, and thus, while she did look forward to using that form at times, she often dreaded it as well as she knew that if she stayed in one animal form for too long, she would be permanently stuck in that form and now she weighed the pros and cons of using her unicorn form for a month. “If I do use it, I don’t want it to be around here and not in the forests either… that would be too much temptation to burn everything.” She sighed heavily as she closed her eyes for what she believed to be a moment, not realizing that she swiftly fell asleep without meaning to, allowing yet another dream to overcome her. 

By now she could easily tell her dreams from her memories, but this one didn’t exactly feel like one or the other. For starters, she knew of no Daedric being that had blue skin with black hair and she knew of no place that looked like it was ripped straight from the pages of a children's book. Yet she was in this place, seeing that Daedra and it confused her. Part of her wondered what she was seeing and why she was seeing it, but another part of her felt as if this was wrong while somehow being something that also felt right. Like this was where she belonged. For the most part she wondered if this was what heaven was supposed to look like as this place was gorgeous, but as she felt a breeze pick up, she closed her eyes before opening them to see the Daedra still standing there but the area around her now took her breath away. Almost everything around her was glowing, and she couldn’t help the feeling of child-like wonder and joy at seeing how magnificent it was. Suddenly a voice spoke up that caused her to look towards the only Daedra she could see. _“This is yours, my Heart.”_ The Daedra spoke as she noted that he did not turn to look at her, but she didn’t seem to mind. _“This is meant for you to rule.”_

 _Where am I?_ But there was no response to her thought out question, at least not at first. Not until she saw a massive form rising in the distance, a form in the shape of a dragon that was golden in color. “Oh fuck me.” She knew who **_THAT_ ** form belonged to and he looked pissed or well as pissed as a dragon could look which was both comical and nearly terrifying to see. She debated with herself for a moment as the world she had seen disappeared for a moment while the golden dragon landed nearby. “Is this the part where I tell you to go fuck yourself? Or do you actually want something from me?” She knew that speaking like that to any form of god was just asking for trouble, but she had wanted to explore that place she had just seen, to find out **_WHO_ ** that Daedra had been, but the dragon before her had ruined that plan. The dragon studied her for several moments before deciding to take the form of a man, and she rolled her eyes. “Oh look, it's the high and mighty Akatosh. What do you want?” Before the god could speak, someone else seemed to arrive causing both to look towards that person. Someone that unsettled Ashefa greatly, causing the Dragon God of Time to give her a bit of mercy and calm her while this new arrival approached. There were really only a few godly beings that could cause such an unsettling within her and the one that approached now just so happened to be a Daedric Prince that she knew from both her knowledge and his own reputation. Only one Daedric Prince who had nearly cost her her dearest friend and thus caused her to want to flee despite knowing she would get nowhere, but she did back up a few steps and tried to make herself seem smaller in case things came to blows between the two powerful gods. 

Sensing her slight distress, the Dragon God glanced in her direction and frowned before looking back at the Daedric Prince. “He cannot harm you, little one.” 

“ _That...doesn’t make me feel any better.”_ Ashefa managed to whisper despite knowing that both could hear her as clear as day. She barely managed to hold back a small sound as the Daedric Prince turned in her direction. Reading or hearing about the Daedric Prince before her was one hundred percent different then actually **_SEEING_ ** and being in his presence. Yet some part of her felt oddly safer with this particular Prince standing before her here. Suddenly, a calm washed over her before the Prince turned away and seemingly returned his gaze towards the Dragon God. 

“Why are you here? She has no dealings with you, Prince of Order.” Akatosh tried to demand of the Prince who stood there seemingly unmoved by the commands of the Dragon God.

Ashefa, for her part, watched the two carefully. One god, whose robes, eyes and hair mimicked that of the scale color of his dragon form, and the other, who looked as if he were made of silvery crystal, seemed to stare each other down. Which in its own right would normally make her think twice before daring any form of movement but once more she felt herself calming and tried to identify which of the two it was coming from, only to fail as she awaited the response of the Daedric Prince. _Oh this is only going to go one of two ways…_

***

Outside of Ashefa’s “meeting” with not one but two gods, Midnight found himself trying desperately to awaken his mistress to no avail. “Mistress? Mistress!” He tried to call out to her, before digging his claws into her lap (while avoiding shedding her blood). When that did not work, he turned and tried to bite her on the arm, this time piercing through her skin and drawing blood (some of which he ended up accidently swallowing). “Mistress! Please wake up!” he called out still to no avail. His whiskers quivered for a moment, “Oh this is not good… This is not good at all…” once more he tried biting her, this time making sure to not break open her skin, yet still received no response. Midnight knew Ashefa’s schedule like the back of his paw, and this was sudden and certainly **_NOT_ ** part of her usual routine. It had nothing to do with the visit of the Mad God, that much Midnight was certain. The Mad God would likely continue to physically visit when he could, or would at least wait until she was actually asleep to visit with her. Taking a quick sniff of the air, he found himself hissing low. “I knew it wasn’t the Mad God.” He had learned the Mad God’s scent quickly upon meeting the man. To be honest it had surprised Midnight, he had never thought that Madness could have a scent, yet the Mad God was living proof that it did indeed have a scent. Actually it had two scents wrapping around each other like trees that had grown too close together. It was rather interesting for Midnight to have smelled, and now as he studied his mistress with worry, he realized that he could not smell the scent that was underlying her rather wonderful scent of lavender and honey, and now his whiskers really did twitch. _How odd._ He thought as he leapt onto Ashefa’s desk. “I hope this works. I know that Mad God isn’t the biggest fan of cats, but I hope he will respond to me.” Closing his eyes, he focused upon the scents he smelled, untwisted them from one another as he separated Ashefa’s gentle scents from the Mad God’s scents, and forced himself to focus upon the Mad God with the hopes that the scents the God had left behind would aid him in finding the man. Unknown to Midnight, thanks in part to the blood he had taken from Ashefa due to biting her, if he were to find the Mad God, only the god would be able to see him unless he willed it otherwise. That was if he could find the elusive bastard first. _I hope he’s somewhere in the Shivering Isles or at least somewhere that would make it easier for him to speak with me… I fear for my Mistress’s safety._ With that Midnight began to follow the Mad God’s scents with that silent prayer left behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is in the works I promise <3 -Thalia


	5. Four

While Midnight chased after the Mad God in the hopes that the Daedric Prince could help awaken Ashefa, in the “dream” that Ashefa was stuck in, there now happened to be a very angry Aedra who had taken to his dragon form and was ”hovering” above her and the Daedric Prince who now stood guarding her, though due to her panicked state, Ashefa had taken to her unicorn form (without somehow shifting in the physical world), revealing what she looked like exactly in her only other animal form. Despite the fact that her entire body was black in color, her mane, her tail (which held no true resemblance to a true unicorn’s tail but rather more like a horse’s tail) and the “feathers” upon her cloven hooves (which were actually the signs of a unicorn being a  _ TRUE  _ unicorn), were all dark red. If one did not notice the nervous flicking of Ashefa’s tail, they would note that she was slender and her coat was sleek, as if someone had made sure to keep her well groomed. Her mane and tail were long enough to almost make her seem as if she was actually a breed of horse that she had loved from her world known as a Friesian, well that was if one ignored the sharp pointed horn that rested upon her forehead and the fact that she was now nervously snorting flames from her nostrils as she trembled and seemingly constantly shifted her weight from one side to the other. It wasn’t exactly her fault for shifting into this form, it was more or less Akatosh’s fault as his sudden transformation into his dragon form had startled her to the point of where the calming spell that had been placed over her had broken and that had allowed her to change forms. Several times her ears flicked back and forth, and she found that she wanted to bolt but she didn’t due to the presence of the Daedric Prince who stood between her and Akatosh now. 

The Dragon God snarled low, “ **_I will only give you three years to make the correct decision, Ashefa. If you have not decided by then, I will MAKE you dragonborn.”_ ** He snarled out at her before taking off and vanishing. Leaving only a still frightened Ashefa and the Daedric Prince of Order behind. 

By the time the powerful Prince had turned to look at Ashefa, she had already retreated as far away from him as she could and now stood pawing the ground, with multiple signs of fear still there. But the Prince made no move to move closer to her or away from her, he just stood there as if he knew that one wrong move could set her off into a full blow panic attack and cause her to become hostile. After some time had passed, Ashefa slowly began to naturally calm down, she no longer had flames trying to come from her when she snorted and her pawing was slowly growing less and less, yet her ears kept flicking back, her tail swished though not nearly as violently as it once did but her trembling remained. Eventually, she turned her head just enough so she could get a better look at the Prince of Order but she did not dare move closer to him. He did still terrify her, but the fact that he had willingly thrown himself between an enraged Dragon God and her was earning him some points into her slowly beginning to “trust” him and as he stood there allowing her to calm down, it earned him even more points. Eventually her pawing stopped and her ears soon relaxed and her trembling slowed though it did not stop, but eventually her ears perked forward as a familiar voice sounded and she turned her gaze to see a familiar person arriving and allowed a loud whiny to escape her as she greeted the new arrival.

“You always find a way to get yourself into quite the pickle, don’t you Ashefa? First, the God of Time himself reaches out to you, now I see a familiar face standing next to you.” Sulivas smiled, his form strangely transparent. “Care to explain what happened here in her mind, Prince of Order?”

Ashefa huffed as if trying to answer Sulivas, before giving him a curious look while the Prince of Order turned to see the new arrival. “Sheogorath.” While the Prince of Order felt no real push to answer, he had the feeling the Mad God would not be here without some form of insane reason. “Akatosh had the intention of punishing the mortal for an err on his end. He intended to punish her for triggering the curse he placed upon her earlier.” The Prince sounded rather bored but he looked over towards Ashefa who snorted. “He has given her three years to replace you as the Crusader, or be forced to live until the coming events she knows of and becoming Dragonborn.” The Prince looked back towards Sulivas, “When she refused him, he startled her and it forced her into the form she is in now.”

“I find it unsurprising to hear the ‘mighty dragon’ attempted to find another to supersede my position as Divine Crusader. Akatosh does always have a desire to control those around, especially since I took over your spot as the Prince of Madness. There is something we can do, though it will require a talk with our esteemed father, Sithis.” Sulivas scratched his beard, deep in thought.

The Prince of Order sighed, “Leave it to you to figure out some form of scheme.” His gaze turned back to Ashefa. “What of her?” He watched Ashefa look in his direction, watched her lift her lip to bare her teeth, revealing that she really wasn’t like the known unicorns, before she shook her head and mane out once more.

“I’ll be staying with her to ensure she will be protected from Akatosh. He, much like the other Aedra, have no real power over Nirn. They are limited to dreams and the followers they have.” Sulivas smiled. “You taught me that, after all. We Daedra do not follow the Time God’s silly rules, we can do what we wish.”

The Prince of Order nodded, “It would be wiser for her to leave Nirn altogether to ensure he cannot do anything more to her.” He studied Ashefa for several more moments before turning to leave. “I am quite interested in you, mortal. Just know that you have my protection.” With that the Prince of Order vanished leaving Ashefa greatly confused as she turned to her friend.

“You’re trapped in your mind, as I’m certain you are aware of by now Ashefa. You worried your poor cat, who was pacing around you and making all sorts of noise, which you showed no reaction to. I tried to wake you as well, to no avail.”

Ashefa huffed, she hadn’t meant to worry her cat or anyone. But it also wasn’t like she could deny Akatosh. But even if she was freed from this state, the fact that he had terrified her would trigger her unicorn form physically and she would have twenty minutes at the most to get the hell out of Anvil before her magic forced her to transform.

“If you need a place to go, Ashefa, the Shivering Isles are open to you. It is free from the prying eyes of the Gods, and you will be under my protection.” Sulivas’ form flickered for a moment.

Ashefa’s ears flicked. It would probably be better for her if she did. So long as he didn’t mind the fact that he would have a fiery unicorn running around for a month if not a little longer. If she called upon this form normally, without fear being a factor, she would be stuck like this for at least a month. With fear? It was anyone's guess how long she would be stuck in it. Giving him a slight nod (or what could pass for a nod), she decided that her best (and safest) bet would be to head to the Shivering Isles. She turned her head to look at him with one of her eyes. She would go to the Shivering Isles, but the first person who was not him to try and use her as a mount would either find themselves flying or one of her hooves coming down upon them. Though at least this time he wouldn’t have to worry about her disappearing for several days because of wild blackberries being in season. Though she was sure he remembered those few days well considering when he had finally found her she had looked at him with curiosity before he had decided to fight with her to get a bridle on her and lead her back to one of his homes where he then had tempted her with a very large fire (and a nice cut of meat) a temptation she had not resisted.

“Splendid! I’ll have a portal ready for when you awaken. You can bring your loyal cat along as well if you’d like, so that they can keep an eye on you.” Sulivas chuckled, fading from Ashefa’s mind before she could respond in any way.

Ashefa folded her ears back for a moment. Why was she not surprised at how he had reacted? But she also had a feeling that before she knew it, she would more than likely lose her beloved cat as well. Letting out a sigh (or what could pass for a sigh) Ashefa forced herself to awaken and as she did, she felt as if she had been hit over the head with something, causing her to reclose her eyes as a headache started up. “I’m going to make a note to myself: Being forced into your own mind by a god is not fun and fucking hurts!” She managed as she rubbed her head.

“Yes, well the esteemed Lord of the Divines is never one to do things halfway. If he wants you to fill my shoes, he won’t make things easy for you, including when he invades your mind. Strangely, his aura is much more intimidating than calming, despite what the priests in his temple may say.”

Ashefa sighed, “Just another reason I refuse his demands.” She told her friend as she looked towards him. 

A dark portal appeared next to the two of them, which Sulivas gestured to. “Ladies first, Ashefa.”

Ashefa stood up and glanced to her desk before walking over to the portal and glancing over to her friend. “Call me that again and you’ll be the first to feel a hoof up your ass.” She commented before going through the portal.

Sulivas simply chuckled and walked through the portal once he made sure that Ashefa had fully gone through the portal. He took a single step in, then paused for a moment, glancing up at the sky. “Do not make me speak to  _ Him,  _ Akatosh. If you continue to act like a child, then you will have to deal with more than the Princes of Order and Madness.”


End file.
